


Silence

by PerseusHuntress



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 12:52:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16832986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerseusHuntress/pseuds/PerseusHuntress





	Silence

Ryder sat on the bridge alone, counting stars and tracing constellations. It’s been two years since he left and she dreaded the coming of dawn. Cora meant well, but her unsubtle attempt to instruct the team to be gentle with Ryder on this day was more of a reminder of her loss, rather than comfort.

Her memory of that time was still vivid, raw, even after all these years. She didn’t think much of it at the time, Reyes had left without a word before. He would ping her extravagant words of apology a few days later and come back to her after a few more. She did the same to him, it was their rhythm. It was normal. But this time no apology ever came, no contact, not even a harassed looking courier delivering an arrogantly large bouquet of flowers to her Nexus apartment in the middle of the night, a sign that he seriously fucked it up this time. There was only silence. At first, her crew laughed at her obsessive need to check messages, but as the weeks turned into months they stopped smiling, watching her with weary eyes. And again, there was only silence.

Ryder carried on for a while, trying to maintain some normality but the fear was swallowing her whole, crushing her.

Eventually, she gathered enough courage to go to Kadara but found only blank stares from Keema. “I assumed he was with you?”, the orders kept coming but no one could tell her whether the Collective was running itself or the Charlatan was still sending instructions. Evfra had no answers for her either.

Something broke in her that night. It was her brother that found her a few nights later, sat on a ledge in Draullir sniping Adhi in the distance. She wouldn’t answer when he called her name but allowed him to scoop her up into his arms and take her home.

It took months but she eventually began coming back to life again. Quietly adding to her brother’s and Cora’s decisions, even showing up at meetings, her presence always met with quiet disbelief.

These days she was almost back to normal, back in Command of the Tempest, running joint missions with Avitus, the turian’s presence helping her through the worst of the nights. Ryder even did her best to move on, PeeBee and Vetra throwing potential partners at her on daily basis. It never worked out.

She kept seeing him in crowds, only for his ghost to disappear when she looked closer. Kept imagining signs from him where there were none. A conveniently passing Collective crew that dispatched the pair of Eirochs that threatened to overwhelm her and Avi. Mysterious information packets forwarded to Evfra seemingly out of nowhere. And once, a garbage transmission directed at the Tempest, that not even SAM could decipher much less trace the origin of. She was convinced she was going insane.

And so, she traced constellations, trying to bring some order and clarity to her life. The Tempest hummed as it passed millennia old stars, gently reminded Ryder that it too shall pass, it always passed.

“Ryder?” Cora’s voice was quiet.

“Yeah?” she answered without turning.

“I need you to come with me,” she said.

Ryder frowned losing her place in the stars “Why?”

“You need to see something,” she placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Cora,” Ryder sighed “Look I know it’s not a fun kind of day, but there is no need, honestly. I’ll be fine.”

“Just please come,” the urgency in her voice made Ryder finally look at her friend. She expected pity but was met only with poorly concealed agitation in Cora’s eyes.

“What’s happened? Is everyone okay?” Ryder instantly snapped out of her melancholy.

“Please…” Cora took her hand and pulled her up.

Ryder followed her through the still silent Tempest towards her own quarters, Cora refusing to let go of her until they reached the doors.

Ryder’s heart was pounding, Cora’s refusal to elaborate together with her distress made terrifying visions swim before her eyes.

She forgot to breathe as the doors slid open.

There was nothing there. Only silence.

Ryder exhaled. It was just her room, the bed sheets half off the bed where she left them, Percy sleeping quietly on the coffee table amongst the debris of her paper work. Everything exactly as she left it.

She turned to Cora and stared dumbfounded “Cora are you okay? What am I looking for here?”

She shook her head “The bed.”

“What about it? You mean the mess? I couldn’t sleep…” she frowned embarrassed.

“No, not the mess, just look at it” the desperation in Cora’s voice frightened her. 

Ryder wanted to protest but thought better of it, Cora was rarely wrong, and even though her instinct told her that she was imagining things, she was the last person to question someone’s sanity.

Ryder walked into the room, cautiously approaching the bed. She still couldn’t see anything, a few pillows were thrown to the side, a crumpled sheet, her underwear, nothing unusual.

And then she saw it, a white square of paper against the white of the sheets.

She turned to Cora, who backed herself up against the wall watching her nervously. She nodded with encouragement.

Ryder reached out with shaking fingers, the little card was folded in half. She trembled all over, her insides aflame with anguish.

She took a breath and unfolded it.

I can explain.   
Reyes

And then there was silence.


End file.
